Waywaysacapo The Gambler

The Gambler, a Saulteaux headman and chief, was the son of Peicheto, a trader and a sub chief of the Portage Band. The Gambler was also the grandson of a white man, John Tanner, who had been kidnapped by the Shawnee in Kentucky and then brought to Red River by his adopted Odawa mother, Netnokwa.

The Gambler spoke for the Cree and Saulteaux gathered at Fort Qu’Appelle during the Treaty 4 negotiations in September of 1874. The Gambler told the Lieutenant Governor, Alexander Morris, that the Cree and Saulteaux would not negotiate the terms of the Treaty until their grievances concerning the Hudson’s Bay Company were dealt with. The Gambler, who was also mad that Morris did not shake the hand of one of the Metis at the meeting, was upset that the HBC was surveying portions of Saulteaux and Cree land for their forts without their consent.

The Gambler, a headman at this time, did not agree to Treaty 4 at Qu’Appelle on September 15, 1874, but his chief, Waywaysecapow, adhered to Treaty 4 at Fort Ellice on September 21, 1874. The Gambler was also present at the negotiations of Treaty 6 at Fort Carlton in 1876.

In 1881, the Gambler separated from Waywaysecapow’s band and had his own reserve surveyed for him at Silver Creek, on the east side of the Assiniboine River, nine miles from Fort Ellice. The Gambler and most of his followers however, left the reserve at Silver Creek and returned to Waywaysecapow’s reserve at Lizard Point because they felt the reserve at Silver Creek did not provide them with enough timber.

Sources – Indian Claims Commission. Gamblers First Nation Inquiry Treaty Land Entitlement. October 1998.